Can you rinse your filter in tap water?
- Thread starter CountryBoy
- Start date
ok well I have another question for you....
I have A Rena filter system and it has the bio stars in it. If i rinsed the filters (it has 2 filters) wouldnt the bio stars still contain the bacteria?
the reason that im asking is because I cant really get the filters clean using just tank water...
Thanks in advance for helping me with this..Avalon
I have A Rena filter system and it has the bio stars in it. If i rinsed the filters (it has 2 filters) wouldnt the bio stars still contain the bacteria?
the reason that im asking is because I cant really get the filters clean using just tank water...
Thanks in advance for helping me with this..Avalon
Ah, you're using a cannister. Here's what I do: rinse one media basket at a time with tap water. The biomedia will still contain some bacteria when you're done, so with the other good media, there should be no significant loss in filtration effectiveness. Just alternate your media baskets each cleaning. Clean the coarse filter pad every time. Replace the fine filter pad in between media cleanings, usually about a week or two after you clean a basket. You should be cleaning the cannister no more than 4 times a year.
No worries. You shouldn't have to open your cannister any more than 8 times per year in order to clean something--4x for major media cleaning (bioballs or other media that harbors bacteria) + 4x for replacing your fine filter media (the stuff that keeps your water sparkling clean). So, in order to clean a basket of media, if you have 2 separate baskets, you should clean them no more than 2x per basket per year, which would be 4x per year for 2 baskets (alternating baskets). This should be a given provided you keep your coarse filter pads clean. They help protect the biomedia from excess 'mechanical' debris. The bottom line is that you don't want to clog the bacteria harboring material from mechanical debris from the tank like poop and dead plant stuff.
The bottom line is cannister filters last much longer between cleanings than power filters. That's part of their purpose, and that purpose is to maintain superior biological filtration. If the cannister you have cannot adhere to my requirements, then you need more filtration. If mechanical filtration is necessary, then couple a power filter with your cannister.
The bottom line is cannister filters last much longer between cleanings than power filters. That's part of their purpose, and that purpose is to maintain superior biological filtration. If the cannister you have cannot adhere to my requirements, then you need more filtration. If mechanical filtration is necessary, then couple a power filter with your cannister.